A/N: I'll say this once again—im not gone yet; 01 IS BACK, BABY! with a very, very long chapter, too! So please find time to read this, one where ur free cause as I said, this be a long one.

To the reviews (i thank yall for em btw. It helps with motivation :D), I try my best to show their bonds interactions here. And yeah, Yuri finally be getting affected by her for once, gotta build up their relationship! And Shun, yes. Hes a very poor boy in this story :(( (if im acting a bit weird, sorry in advance. im overwhelmed rn smh.)

And uh, who here is excited for Vrains release in DL? I sure am! Also heard ffn might be shutting down, so incase u wanna find me/this story, I'm both on AO3 Wattpad. My names on said sites Link to my ao3 is in my profile, just scroll down a bit and ull find it.

Now that ive said all that i want, lets start with the story and not keep yall waiting.

TW (Trigger Warning) - There r mentions of r*pe sum violence in this chapter, but fear not, for i have put another TW to where its near.

As Chojiro Tokumatsu would say, Enjoy!


"I may not be able to solve all of of your problems,

but I promise you won't have to face them alone."

-Oscar Oviedo Jr.


- December -

Int.-Barrett's House-The Next Day,'Round 8 AM

It was already December, oh how fast time flew. It hasn't snowed yet, though it should be soon.

While the girls were getting ready to go back to Maiami (A/N: idk if i ever mentioned it was the Maiami City from the anime, but it is), there was a knock on their door.

"Who is it?" Ruri asked. She was tying her hair.

"I'll make ya guess," the voice behind the door said.

This made the girls wonder.

Till Yuzu figured it out. "Shuzo!" She ran to the door, opened it, and hugged the said man.

When Ruri realized what just happened, she too ran and did the same. "Shuzo-san!"

"Heyyy, girls! Missed you both so much." He hugged the two tight before letting go.

Smiling, Rin also got up. "Hello, Shuzo-san." She then looked at Serena. "Hey, get up and greet."

"Pff, nah. And why're you whispering?"

"Nice to see you both too, Serena, Rin." Shuzo sighed. "It's alright, Rin."

"'Kay, then. Anyway, what brings you here?"

Shuzo shrugged. "Barrett said you four were going here yesterday, so I thought, 'Why not visit?', so here I am!"

Someone put a hand over one of his shoulders, making him shudder as he moved his head. "U-Uh…"

The figure behind him smiled. "Hiiragi-sama. Glad to see you again."

"Sh-Shun! It's you," Shuzo sighed, "please don't do that next time."

Then, Reiji also entered the room. "Morning, Mr. Hiiragi."

"Morning, Reiji! My… I've only noticed how you all have grown from three years ago…"

He mostly meant the girls. Yuzu and Serena were both just teenagers back then.

"I was so sad that you all had to go…" he said dejectedly. "anyway, how's life been?"

"Fine, so far," Ruri started with a lie, "I'm currently a waitress at a diner, Rin's a hacker/mechanic, Yuzu's a musician at a bar, and Serena… walks the neighbors' dogs."

"She… still hasn't continued college?"

From behind, Serena sighed and walked over to them. "Yes, Hiiragi-san. I… have other things to do."

"Look who finally decided to say something," Shun interjected.

"No fights, please," Yuzu groaned. "Well, it was nice to see you again, but we have to continue packing."

"Oh, right." He stifled a laugh. "One last hug?"

With this, Ruri, Yuzu, and Rin all went to him and gave him a tight embrace. "Boys?" Sighing, Reiji and Shun hugged him as well.

"What about Sere—" Rin whispered before she was cut off.

"Don't worry, I know what to do."

Serena smiled, watching them. She'd rather not be squeezed in with them, plus, she didn't like the feeling of hugs in general—it made her feel weak and she doesn't like it. She continued packing.

"Your turn!" Serena turned to see Shuzo approaching her. She tried to move away, but it was too late. He had caught her. "Umph," she yelped as she got squeezed. The man was quite the hugger. Grunting, she just accepted it and hugged him back.

They finally let each other go. Shuzo then patted her and said, "Hey, listen to Rin and Ruri, and take care of Yuzu, okay? Don't make things hard on them, and please, continue college."

"I'll… try…" She looked away.

"Good." He smiled, patted her one more time and stood up. "You guys need help with anything?"

"Sure do," Ruri said as they all went back to what they were doing.

Shun and Reiji already walked away.

With them

"Alright, Rei, time for you to finally answer a question we've all been waiting for—why'd you take Reira in?" Shun asked, blocking Reiji's way.

"Since I'm a bit bored at the moment and have nothing else to do, I might as well tell you." Reiji sighed and led him to the living room.


Short Flashback - Reiji POV

To put it simply, the Lancers and I were scouting an apartment complex that had been abandoned and was broken.

One of the people living there had made some deal with… her—our mother. We knew this 'cause we got Yugo to check the guy's recent calls and found he threatened to tell us and the police about where she is and her plans. But before we could check the others, everything in the phone just all disappeared.

As you know, I… have been trying to find her all these days. Trying to track her and know her whereabouts—Yugo also tried his absolute best to track her down, but even with his extraordinary skills, it all failed. Until now, I still can't find her. I don't even have a clue where she is or what she's doing at the moment. All I know is that she's still out there somewhere, killing and doing who knows what to people.

I have a feeling it's so that she could extract information from them, but I can't pinpoint what it could be, exactly.

And her plans. What could the guy mean? We couldn't interview him either cause he's dead, and the memory scanners only work on live people.

Anyway, going back to Reira, one of my Lancers, Allen, came running at me after he and Yuto checked the back of said building.

They said that there were no survivors except one—a child.

"We need your help, sir. The child wouldn't move and she's just shivering there, hugging her knees. He wasn't crying very loudly, but tears were streaming down his face," Allen added.

He and Yuto then led me to said child. And there she was; she was crying, but she's also doing her best holding back her tears. Her jacket was torn and had some soot and dust. She also had a bear which she still carries around with her. Beside her was a big piece of debris, and under it I saw some blood.

I sighed deeply and approached her. "Hey. Talk to me, why don't you come with us?"

She looked at me. I didn't see it clearly before, but her eyes were full of fear. She then pointed to the blood. "D-dad… M-mom…"

Her parents were crushed. They were dead.

And she just sat there, scared. Her eyes also reminded me of… mostly her.

(Small interruption to the non-flashback world that shows Serena passing by him and Shun looking away hiding a can of beer she found in Barrett's fridge)

And not just her, us, too. Yuzu, who wouldn't move… Serena who wailed like crazy, and you, me, Rin and Ruri holding back tears cause we had to get to safety.

I saw our own fearful, sad, and traumatized eyes.

And knowing we failed Serena; wait—no, that she failed herself, I didn't want that to happen to Reira, so I took her in.

It was easy, though. Unlike Serena who fought and didn't accept all the therapy and other things to make her feel better, Reira did. Though, it's prolly 'cause I also told her our story.

That's all.

Flashback Ends


"Pshk. To think you took her in because of us," Shun commented, smirking.

"Hey, she's been doing good. I got her mental training; she's really good with her studies, just like our sisters," Reiji added.

"One more question," Shun started, "If you knew the boys were dangerous, why'd you let three of 'em work for you?"

"Zarc wasn't just strong and evil…ish. He was actually pretty smart as well. That's another thing the boys have; Yuto himself has great stamina." Reiji saw it himself during their investigations and raids. He is strong, able to run fast, and usually won't give up easily, with the exception of his brothers—Yuri specifically—because he thinks they aren't worth the effort.

"Yugo meanwhile might be dumb and shows signs of, or might even have, ADHD. Still, he's extremely smart with machines and code, mostly in the field of computer science and tchnology. He's fixed my machines and even made some for us to mass produce. He's also a good drone operator." He remembered Yugo noticing and fixing the smallest syntax errors before they run programs. He has limits and can't always do it, but when that happens, he'll never give up on finding and fixing the program.

"At the moment, he has an idea of a multi-functional motorcycle and a way to use RSVs as… almost anything. A theory came to his mind about it which is too complex for even me to explain at the moment, but it's a big one, mind you."

"Now, Yuri…" Said guy is his own thing, it'd take a while to tell someone all of his abilities. "He's good in many, and I mean many scientific fields focused mostly on chemistry, physics, and biology. He's a bit dangerous, actually; might sound like he's not, but in his own way, he is. Especially because he's also almost like Yuto physically. All three all have the sense of not giving up."

"What about the youngest, Yuya? Wait, he, he doesn't work for you…"

"True. I've only met him face-to-face once. At the moment, I don't know his abilities. Also the other three are overly protective of him and never talk nor mention him much in work, so yeah."

Just then, a blue blur was thrown to Reiji's face. It was a blue cat plush. "What the heck, Serena!?"

"Found it while rummaging through the attic," Serena said blatantly, finishing the can from earlier. "…you… bought that for me in the past, right? Said it reminded ya of me cause it's blue like my hair and I love cats. Didn't know I'll get an annoying, real, live one in the future, though." She pointed to Blue Cat who was talking to Misty about something.

"Yeah, I did. And Rin bought it a western bowtie collar with a bell on it, heh," he added.

"Wait, the collar is removable?" she took the collar off, amused, and turned to Misty with a smirk, "yo, Miiisty~"

Misty turned to her boredly. 'What now…?' She walked over to her. "Meow?"

"I have a gift." She showed her the collar with the little western bowtie a bell which made a little jingle as it was lifted. 'My dear Ra, no…'

Serena quickly lifted her up, slumped on the couch, and put it on Misty. "Now you look like a young lady."

When she let the cat go, Misty walked backwards for a few seconds, 'How DARE you put this on me, I'm no toy—' and stopped. 'Okay, this isn't that bad. I'll accept it.'

"Like it? Like it? Like i—"

"I think she does, Serena," Shun interrupted, annoyed. "Now shut up."

Serena was about to retort when Rin said, "Hey, Serena, catch." She threw something rectangular and black at her.

Serena turned and caught it with ease. "You… YOU BROUGHT MY PHONE!?"

"Yeah… I thought of hacking into it but decided not to the second I saw you." Rin blepped.

"STILL!"

"Hey, you left it in the first place and don't use it as much as we do ours! Just be glad I decided not to hack it."

"Alright, both of you stop, we gotta go," Ruri scolded, getting in the middle of the both of them. "Yuzu and I are always the pacifiers…" she mumbled under her breath.

"You four can go with me and Reira," Reiji suggested. "I'm going back to the city, anyway. I think Shun'll come, too."

"Nope," Serena answered. "Yeah, same," Rin agreed. "No thanks," Ruri said. "We're prolly taking the train."

"...is it 'cause of me?" Shun asked.

"Kinda," the three girls said in sync. "You always pick fights with Serena, be it small or big," Ruri explained.

"Might as well take you to the train station," Reiji said, getting up.

"That, I'll agree to. It's raining, after all." Ruri went to get their bags.

Shun wanted to insist on coming with the girls but decided not to knowing it'll just start another argument… between him and Serena, anyway.

"Well uhh, I better go back with my own kind, and they told me not to say anything, but we're planning on something involving you girls soon enough," B winked, "ciao!" She turned to her humanoid form and jumped into the air before dissipating.

"Wait, what are you planning—" Ruri was about to ask when B disappeared. "Nevermind… Okay, we better get going ourselves."

Before they left, Barrett talked to Serena. "Hey."

"Hm? Oh, Barrett-san, yes?"

"Your bracelet." He handed her said accessory. It was a simple, thin bracelet with two rings—the smaller one attached to the bigger one by two loops that connected them. A single purple, star-shaped gem sits on the bottom of the smaller ring in the center of a metal platform that allows the gem to rotate back and forth inside of the smaller ring. (A/N: I copied the last part from the wiki cause im too lazy to come up with anything i dunno what else to add.)

"Oh, right. Thanks." She took it from him and placed it on her right wrist, where it truly belongs.

"You know we all love you, right?" Barrett suddenly asks.

She looked down. "Yeah…"

"Now, this is not to ask you something too big, but, do good, okay?"

She nodded.

He went to her and hugged her. "Take care of yourself and your sisters. You know out of the four of you, you're the strongest, physically."

"…I will." Serena returned the hug. If she were honest, hugs weren't that bad. And right now she actually needed it.

Finally, Barrett let Serena go and she ran off to her sisters.

'Bye, little moonlight,' Barrett thought as Serena went after her sisters.

They called Yuzu, said their goodbyes to Shuzo—who was also about to leave—Barrett, Shun, and Reira, got in Reiji's car, and left.

"Bye, Reiji! Thanks for the ride!" Yuzu thanked, entering the train.

"See you, nii-san/See ya soon!" Ruri and Rin said, following after Yuzu.

"..." Serena entered the train carrying Misty then stopped. "Sigh, you still haven't told us about Reira."

"Ask Shun that; I told him everything."

Serena took another step in.

"Is that all you have to say?"

She stopped again. "…bye. Thanks for taking us here, I guess."

"You're welcome, and bye." He waved and walked back to his car as Serena fully entered and sat with her sisters.

She placed Misty on her lap where the cat happily started napping on and took her phone out. 'Nice to have you again. Maybe it ain't such a bad thing that Rin brought you here.' "Hey, Rin, you have Yugo's number, right?"

"Yeah—wait, why?"

"I need to know Yuri's."

Ruri, Yuzu, and Rin looked at her, surprised. "Can you repeat that, please?"

"I need to know Yuri's number," Serena groaned.

"Ok, then. I'll ask Yugo." Rin chuckled, texting Yugo for the number. "Here." She Showed her the number. After it was a message that read, "Yurid kill me if he figured dis out, but it just Serena, anyway. Still pls dont tell him."

Said girl copied the number and texted the guy, "Hey, Asshole. It's Serena."

With Yuri, who right now was having a discussion with Sora in his laboratory, he was surprised to hear a text notification as he usually prefers not to be disturbed while working. 'Thought I told them not to text me during my shift unless it's an emergency…' "Excuse me, Sora." He pulled his phone out and looked at the text from an unknown number. 'New.'

-*Insert Yuri's Number*-

Yuri: Prove it.

Serena: Whats there to fuckin prove?

Yuri: …yep, that's you alright… Re~na-chan.

Serena: Oh dont u start

'Definitely her,' he thought before—

Yuri has set your nickname to "Some Bitch"

Serena smirked.

You set Yuri's nickname to "An annoyinh asshole"

Some Bitch: I rlly need to use my auto-correct. Oh well

An annoyinh asshole changed their nickname to "An Annoying Asshole"

Some Bitch: dude srsly

An Annoying Asshole: Grammar and spelling is important, Serena. Especially when making fun of someone, and I'll admit that I'm both annoying and an asshole.

Some Bitch: yea ok fine

An Annoying Asshole: So…

An Annoying Asshole: Who gave you my number?

Some Bitch: A lil birdie :P

An Annoying Asshole: Who

Some Bitch: anyway my sisters and i be going back at the moment, soo

Some Bitch: cya

An Annoying Asshole: Don't you dare—

An Annoying Asshole: Ugh, fine, then. I'll know at some point. I still have things to do now anyway.

An Annoying Asshole: …Imma come see ya at the train station later btw (And you can't stop me! :DD ;P)

Some Bitch: NOOO—

And with that, Yuri put his phone down and continued what he was doing.

Serena grumbled a bit before putting her own phone away, leaning to the chair, and giving a little pout.

"What's that about?" Rin asked. "Oh! Yugo's gonna be meeting me later at the train station, by the way; y'all can finally meet him."

'Really?' Serena thought, oh wait, no, groaned. Yeah, that's a better word.

"Looking forward to it!" Ruri smiled with Yuzu doing the same.

A few minutes passed and the train finally moved.

Following what happened the other day, Yuzu put her head on Ruri's shoulder, yawned, and slept. Ruri then moved Yuzu's head to her lap, instead. "Better?"

"Much." Yuzu resumed her sleep. Ruri gave a small smile before leaning onto the window and proceeded to start sleeping herself.

"Bout you?" Rin asked Serena.

"I…" She sighed, clutching Misty then letting go. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Why… why do you still treat me like this, Rin? Even after that day in school… I caused you trouble many times—and that time, it wasn't a little kid trouble. It was a big, bad, possibly even traumatizing one. How do you even still… love me…?" The moment Serena was talking about in particular was a day in her and Rin's little school trip in the past when they were still in middle school. "You know how I was and still am…" Serena trailed off, holding back some tears and hugging Misty once again, controlling herself not to squeeze said cat too much.

Rin hugged her. "Hey now, shh, calm down. Remember that at that time, it was my choice?"

"Yeah, but still, I was the reason why—"

"I said stop. You were and still are one of my younger sisters. I had every right to make the choice I made; it was my job to protect you." Rin continued to pat her back slowly to calm her down. Serena leaned closer to her. "And it isn't just because I was told to, or just 'cause you're my sister. I did it because I loved you—and still do—and cared for you. I knew what we went through and didn't want you to get more hurt than you already were, even if, looking back, it kinda did the opposite."

She continued, "If I didn't care nor love you, I would've left you with those foolish devils. I also wouldn't have helped you whenever you needed me."

"'Guess…" Serena muttered. "This was another reason why I avoided you girls—I don't want the same thing to happen again. I don't want to see you three hurt… Also 'cause of the yelling, but that's only one side."

The other two—who were listening silently—just realized this, and it hurt them a bit to know how much she actually cared about them. Even if most of the time, she hid it. They both continued listening secretly, even if they were on the verge of falling asleep.

"Now, it wouldn't hurt you to get more sleep. It's cold and also 'bout to rain, so go on and lean on me… if you need too only, of course."

Serena did just that. She smiled a bit, whispering, "Thank you for always being there for me, Rin…" before closing her eyes and hugging Misty, preparing to be whisked away to the land of both dreams and nightmares.

Rin hugged Serena close and leaned back to Ruri. Realizing the other three were about to sleep, Ruri decided to just stay awake to guard their things. It ain't a lot, but she wouldn't risk it.

With Rin, what happened that day, before and after, actually still haunts her to this day.

And she remembered it all happening very clearly.


TW - Mentions of r*pe what happened after, also violence.

Flashback - mostly Rin - Third POV

Their school and a few others were selected to have a field trip to a company that mostly focused on technology.

She and Serena were very excited as they had hoped to take a break from this school one day, and a field trip, even if it just lasted one day, would be enough. They'd gladly choose that over strict teachers and important but sometimes boring lectures. All they needed to do was email a waiver to a guardian and get them to sign it.

Both begged and begged until they finally got consent from Barrett to let them go. He hesitated, but he thought they deserved it for once.

When they went, everything started off normally. They tried on VRs and saw people riding their duel monsters and dueling naturally—the start of RSV.

They got to touch, pat, ride, and even feed some duel monsters. They also got introductions, speeches, and showcases from famous inventors, engineers, and the like from around the world who went there.

After all this, they had a little break. They went to the cafeteria with all the other students and got their already-prepared food of hotdog and soda.

At some point, Serena needed to go have a bathroom break.

"Let me go with you. I'll just be outside," Rin suggested, taking another bite off her hotdog.

"I'll be fine; you worry too much, sheesh…" Serena here had recovered from her trauma a bit and was beginning to get better; so Rin, trusting Serena won't cut herself or something of the kind—or worse, get raped—let her go by herself. "Thanks, Rin!"

Little did they both know that life had other plans.

After Serena finished, she was about to run back to her and Rin's table when three boys prolly three times her grade surrounded her. "Where ya going?"

"Back," Serena replied and tried to ignore them. "Now please let me pass."

"Me and my boys have some… plans. Would you like to come and find out?"

"No thanks." She tried to squeeze through them but they wouldn't let her. Shd also knew they wanted to do something to her with the way they looked at her earlier. Suddenly, their leader, the one who spoke, grabbed her arm. "You really want it like this, huh."

"Wha—" When she turned to them to try and fight back, the other two grabbed her and tied some cloth on her mouth, muting any screams she tried to let out.

Rin, noticing Serena had been gone for far too long, decided to try and find her.

And there she saw the three boys dragging her away to the very back of a corridor. "Let her go!" Without sparing a second thought, she sprinted after them. 'No, I can not let this happen again…!'

"Quick, to the janitor's closet!" the leader shouted. He and his lackeys took Serena there and locked themselves in.

Rin tried to barge the door open and even thought of calling the principal or a teacher, but they probably would just ignore her, and even if they'll come, it'll be too late.

So, with the lock-picking she and Serena learned over the years, she pulled out a paper clip and started to unlock the door. "C-Come on…!"

She started to tear up a bit, and her heart churned just thinking of what could be happening there right now.

Did they start already? Were they hurting Serena badly? How was Serena!?

Finally though, the doorknob clicked. She gasped a sigh of relief but was short-lived when she remembered what she was supposed to do—she shoved the door open with all her might, it almost broke off. "I said LET HER GO!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.

They were far too deep into the corridors for anyone to hear them, and most employees and janitors were still out, busy doing their jobs mostly 'cause of the field trip event, so help or the thought of anyone hearing her was really slim if at all.

"R-Rin…" She heard Serena choke. The boys haven't yet started their true intentions, but were about to as they had just finished ridding Serena of her… yeah, y'all prolly know.

"Tch. You better leave us alone or we'll do it to you, too!" the leader barked. "Or maybe…" he thought of a more agreeable solution.

Rin didn't get a good feeling from this.

"We'll do it to you instead of your poor little sister here," the guy suggested. "What do you say? We'll let her go, but you stay. We'll all promise to not do it to her, but only to you. That fine with you, my boys?"

"Yeah. Better have one than none," his lackeys said in unison.

'No, Rin, you don't have too,' Serena thought silently as she tried to fight back—and not just these bullies, but her tears as well. 'You don't have to go through this…'

"Tsk." Rin didn't have much choice; she didn't want to do this, but she didn't want her sister to go through this again, either—she loved her too much.

And though she was a bit hesitant, Rin agreed. "Fine. You want it that much, I'll let ya, as long as you won't to her. And can I have her for a while, please?"

"Fine." The leader threw Serena and her stuff — to which she wore again happily — to Rin and waited.

"Thank you." Rin took Serena out of the Janitor's closet.

When they got out, Rin told her, "Run. Please."

"No…"

"Go."

"Rin…!"

"You know they'll chase us anyway if we try to run, and the consequences might get worse if they catch us again. So please, go."

Rin went back inside and accepted what was about to happen.

Serena went after her, then, a lackey got ahold of her.

"The promise!"

"Yes, yes, I didn't forget that. You," he pointed to the one with Serena, "don't harm her. You'll get your turn." The guy nodded.

And one-by-one, Serena saw Rin turn into the boys' porn fantasies. It traumatized both her and Rin in different yet the same ways.

In the times this happened to her, she knew how utterly painful the process was, knowing these boys don't yet have control.

And one time she bled. A lot. The first time, Rin hadn't found out as she hid it from her. The second, though, she didn't have much choice; from that day on, they were more careful and it didn't ever happen again… That is, until this day. True, Serena still got in fights and would get mauled badly at times, but she'd prefer that over the other, depending on the person.

Back to the present, Serena fought back with all her might and tried to help Rin but they also beat her up. They might not have "touched" her, but she was beaten. Bad. Rin also felt useless knowing she couldn't do anything to prevent that.

Knowing fighting them won't work, she fought enough for her to escape their clutches and ran. The boys didn't know what to do.

Should they run after her? This was something Serena wanted to happen.

Should they run away?

"Tsk, get her!" the leader yelled. "And you better!" The two nodded and went after her. "And you… you'll suffer even more." Rin just tch-ed and punched his face — even after the tiring and painful experience she just went through — having had enough of everything.

"I'm fighting back this time." She was very sore and was bleeding, but she knew she had to do this.

With Serena, she ran—no, bolted as fast as she could, as if a horde of zombies about to devour her were chasing after her. Her heart pounded and left a ringing sensation to her ears, probably also a courtesy of her already-present injuries. She felt weak in every way; her arms she felt were about to fall off, and her legs wanting to give up and sink into the ground.

She tripped but got up and continued running, running to a security guard or someone who isn't her school's employee.

And finally she let her body fall on one. "Help, please… my sister got…" she stammered, her heart stinging and the top of her ears burning, "s-sexually assaulted, by, them…" she pointed to the boys who froze.

"Ruunnn!" one yelled.

"Yeah, I know! Let's go!"

The guard saw how badly beaten up she was and nodded.

To Serena's relief, he called for someone to guard and call an ambulance before chasing the boys.

Serena sighed and slumped on the floor. She saw an employee call an ambulance and check up on her before passing out.

With Rin (resuming what happened before Serena ran)

Rin felt as if something had just been pulled out of her, hard. But she got up anyway.

She was very weak right now and felt like passing out. She felt a bit dizzy, and the world in front of her seemed to be shaking, and her head ached as if bombs, missiles, and heavy storms were thrown to her all at once.

Still, without letting her guard down, she took her pants and undergarments and wore them as fast as she could. She then tried to run from the guy but he caught her and pushed her to the ground. She quickly rolled to her right, got up, pushed the guy, and kicked his part.

She learned a thing or two in her self-defense lessons.

It wasn't that easy, though. The guy got up quickly as well and took a broom to try and hit her with it. She herself also took one from her side and blocked his broom with hers.

They then sparred from there. The guy managed to get her to lose her grip on the broom at some point and hit her stomach with it. Hard. "Ah!" She coughed more blood out and lost more from her other part.

Fainting is one result of blood loss, so this isn't good.

The guy, probably sick of doing the other thing to her, just beat her up, yelling things like, "you deserve this" and the like.

For her last move, she reached out to a bottle filled with muriatic acid. She then smirked at him. "You…" she stammered and breathed heavily, "won't get away with this."

She spilled the acid onto his face and moved away as fast as she could to avoid it landing on her then kicked his shin, making him clutch it as he fell to the floor.

The other two lackeys arrived for some reason and dragged their leader away.

She let out a sigh of relief when she saw multiple security guards catching up to the boys and arresting them before passing out herself.

She awoke a little bit later somehow in an ambulance with Serena beside her who was just waking up. She reached out and held Serena's bruised hand with her own.

"We're okay now, little sis…" She gave a small smile.

Realizing things, Serena's eyes widened and looked around to find that they were in an ambulance before glancing back at Rin and seeing how much more beaten she was. "I'm sorry, Rin…" she wept, "I really am… tch, I couldn't do much, I couldn't get them away from you… and I also got dad killed…"

Rin gave a deep sigh. "What I did was for you, and I thought you moved on already."

"You know I tried," Serena sobbed, "except it still haunts me every now and then. I tried to forget it and prove it wrong by making the best of the time we're usually locked up in that school, but it says I'll just make things wrong again; I guess it's right."

"You'll get over it again someday. For now—" She was cut off when Serena turned to the other side, no matter how much she knew that hurt her.

"Sigh… Not now, Rin." Serena decided to keep her thoughts to herself for now. Revealing them wouldn't do much good.

Rin let her take her time.

They missed the rest of the trip that day and didn't attend classes for a week for recovery. Their guardian and family were told about the incident, and Barrett requested for the two to be sent home, but the school didn't allow that. Also to never let them out of the school except for home again.

Instead, they remained in their dormitories left to recover with nothing and no one else to recover with but each other. It was a good thing, though, that those boys were expelled.

But after a few years, Serena ran away, unable to bear what she experienced there because it wasn't just that the school was the way it was, but her teachers were very strict with her during training, not hesitating to beat/hit her if she did something wrong. Rin was fine as she mostly was tech-focused, so not much physical stuff.

And their life just went on from there.

Flashback End


Rin also has never started a relationship with anyone before 'cause of the past events, but she gave Yugo a chance to see if she still could, and so far everything's been great.

It wasn't as bad as she expected.

Anyway, as said, the incident that happened those years ago haunts her to this day, but she never told Serena. The other two do and so avoids talking about any topic relating to it, knowing it still triggers her sometimes.

She also never told Serena 'cause she knew it'd do more harm than good. She's affected by their past so much already, and it won't be good to remind her of times like those.

She hugged her little sister—who was already sleeping peacefully—close and proceeded to try and sleep to hopefully distract herself from her thoughts.

Now, Serena knew Rin loved her so much, but she always thought that she never deserved it; that she didn't deserve anyone's love.

That's why, even with Reiji pairing her up with all those other people, she purposefully ghosted/ignored them, and when something went too intimate, she left them and tried to forget—this though, she does easily—whatever happened because of her past trauma. And that one time she fell in love again with Robin didn't make things any easier.

With Yuri though, it was a different case.

He knew where she "lived". And now that he has her number (it probably was a bad idea to find him in the first place), he'll probably never give up on trying to get in contact with her, knowing he has a sense of persistence when it comes to protecting her. He also worked in Leo Corp. with her brother, Reiji, as his boss.

And those times she tried to run away by making the "being high" as an excuse, he found her and helped her. True, he had B's help, but he could've refused it if he wanted.

That guy also had his own past experiences, mostly bad ones, too. Still he overcame them and so, she looked up to him a bit.

Speaking of overcoming, Rin and Serena don't know this, but they both looked up to each other as well.

Rin to Serena cause with all the shit that happened to her, she was still here, able to hide her emotions (which though she knew was also a bad thing) and cope, only that, it's the bad kind.

And Serena to Rin because first, she's her older sister. Following that, she helped, protected, put up with her, and took care of her the best she could no matter how annoying she and her behavior was. Last, 'cause she knew Rin did a lot for her, and this didn't just give her respect for Rin, but guilt, too.

Serena wasn't the kind who liked being needy—she found it quite mawkish. And if only she could that day, she would have refused Yuri's help thinking she'd be in debt. So far though, Yuri still hasn't used it against her.

She also thinks people just help her to get advantage of her, as was the case with Robin. She saw the guy cheating on her a few times but ignored it, causing her to have great distrust with anyone.

She had no idea why she trusted Yuri, Dennis, and Sora so easily.

And those thoughts remained in her mind as she continued to drift in the sea of sleep.


With Yuri, a few hours later

"Bye, Yuto! See you!" Yuri exclaimed a bit too happily as he headed for the exit for lunch.

Yuto looked at him with a surprised expression. 'What…?' "You're leaving early again? It happens frequently now, y'know…"

"Why? Am I not allowed to?" He left the building to head towards the train station. Following him was Yugo who also sprinted to the exit. "ByeYuto!Seeyoulater,mybro!"

This just made Yuto even more surprised, adding to it suspicion. 'Looks like I hafta leave early, too…'

With Yuri and Yugo, both were happily walking with each other, for some reason.

"Uhh, see you later…?" Yuri said, confused.

"You too." Both took a detour.

Then met again at some point.

"...Okay, where are you going?" Yuri asked his brother, annoyed.

"Where are you going?" Yugo retorted.

"To the train station."

'Same as me, huh…' "Why?"

Yuri hesitated before sighing and finally answering. "To meet Serena…"

"SAME! Except with Rin."

"HAH you're gonna pick your girl up? She really is your girlfriend now, huh~" Yuri teased.

"You too, y'know…" Yugo stuck his tongue out. "And by the way, don't you think I forgot what you did last night! I let it slip, but I still want answers. Thing was, I was too sleepy and tired to ask, so I should now."

'Tsk…' Yuri was fine avoiding those questions and had no interest in knowing nor answering whatever they could be. Knowing nothing good will come of this, Yuri decided to do something about it. "You know what, why don't we make a truce?"

"Of what? And will it only benefit you or the both of us?"

"The latter; here are the conditions: You don't tell the other two what we're about to do, and I don't tell the other two as well." Yuri reached his hand out. "So?"

Yugo thought about it for a moment. "Hmm… fine, deal—WAIT! Honestly I'm fine with letting the other two know what I'm up to, so can we change my conditions?"

"To what?"

"To answer whatever question I'll ask," Yugo grinned happily. "Oh, and, know if you don't agree, I'll tell Yuto, as I'm sure Yuya knows a thing or two of what's going on with you and that girl."

Yuri remained calm to that, although inside, he was bubbling with rage. "Fine, then. No point in hiding anything now." They shook hands.

There was a moment of silence between them as they walked to their destination 'till they finally arrived at the train station a little while later.

Yuri and Yugo sat on a bench, took their lunches (they sometimes pack their own lunch or buy 'em beforehand), and started to eat.

"So," Yugo started, taking a huge bite off his rice ball, "To start, how long have you been with that girl?"

"Few weeks, I think. Almost a month." Yuri snapped his chopsticks and ate from his bento.

"How'd you guys meet?"

"Bumped into each other, had an argument, resolved it, went on."

Yugo nodded. "What was the argument about?"

"It includes some personal things about Serena, so I can't tell ya that."

"Alright then, how about —" Yugo was cut off when he and Yuri's phone got a message, with Yuri's being followed up by a call.

It was Reiji.

"Hello? Reiji-san?" Yuri asked, answering the call and putting it on speaker but adjusted the volume low enough that only he and Yugo could hear. He also put it on hologram mode.

Reiji's hologram then started talking. "Yes, Yuri, and good afternoon. I have something to tell you and your brothers which are sent through messages. I called you specifically because I know you probably won't check it."

"Alright then… Can you tell me what it is?" Hearing that, Yugo decided to not check his message and listen and eat instead.

"My family was invited to a Formal Christmas Ball by the city to celebrate Christmas on the 23rd," Reiji explained, making Yuri grin. "And with that smile, I remember that you love going to such events, being the guy you are."

"Sure am."

"And you can guess that you guys are invited; they also said I could bring any number of people I want, and I decided to invite a select few employees which include you and your brothers," Reiji continued. 'I need them for a little plan I have.'

"Serfiously, though? I fate events 'ike chose," Yugo complained with a mouth full of his lunch.

"Oh shut. Even if you won't, I'll go. And don't eat with your mouth full," Yuri scolded. "And your family, huh?" he turned back to Reiji with said question.

"Don't mind that for now as it's up to them if they choose to come."

"Don't you worry, I'm gonna come anyway."

"See you in a few." Reiji finally ended the call.

"You're not thinking of actually going, are y—" Yugo was about to ask his brother when a train passed by.

"Must be their train," Yuri guessed, not even bothering to ask about Yugo's question.

He put his lunch back into his bag and walked to the boarding area. Yugo followed suit, not before shoving the remnants of the rice ball into his mouth, almost choking in the process. "H-hey, wait!"

Both were now waiting and looking for their respective girls in the waiting area. They each also had their own reactions and ways.

Yugo was giddily yelling Rin's name a little too loudly with people eyeing him awkwardly and avoiding him.

Yuri just walked around silently. His plan was to catch Serena by surprise, meaning he also had to find her before she does him.


With the Girls

Serena had fallen into a deep sleep and Rin was trying to wake her up. "Serena, hey, we're here!"

"C'mon, Serena, wake up already!" Ruri yelled.

Yuzu stepped in the middle of the two and put Misty down (she was carrying said cat who surprisingly didn't attack her). "Nya?"

"Lemme." She gracefully and diligently pulled her big fan out, as if unsheathing a sword, and put it up, ready to swing it down to her sister's face. The other two just backed off, finding no reason to stop her. Seeing that, Misty also avoided her, backing off a bit.

And then she swung it, going at a quick and slick speed and making a large "SMACK!" when it came into contact with Serena's face none too softly and leaving a big red mark on her face; this did not only wake Serena up but make her fall off the train's chair, too.

"ACK! What the heck, Yuzu!? It didn't have to be that hard…" Serena groaned, rubbing her head. "That hurt a lot, y'know."

"Yeah, but Rin and Ruri tried their best to wake you up normally, but that didn't work, so I had to interfere," Yuzu explained with glee. "And just 'cause I'm the youngest doesn't mean I'll leave all you three be even if you clearly need me. And that I can't hit you."

"Yeah, I know. Wait, we're here already?"

"You seriously didn't notice?" Rin asked, feeling bad for her (not literally, if u know what I mean). She also patted Misty who accepted it. 'Still saving cats…'

"Mhm." Serena nodded before getting up and dusting herself. "Guess that now we're here, we gotta get going. C'mon, Mist!"

"Mreow!" Misty walked behind her.

"And what do you mean by that, exactly?" Ruri queried. She did not want Rin to beg her through text messages to let her continue finding Serena again.

"To like, get out of the train? We're the only ones left." She shrugged. "Did you think I was gonna run again? I don't think that's possible even if I wanted to, anyway…" 'That asshole said he's gonna wait for me which is a reason why. Pff, what am I thinking, he's prolly not here.'

The four finally decided to walk out of the train. When they did, they heard someone yelling Rin's name over and over again tenaciously, stunning the girls.

"That voice sounds familiar…" Serena murmured, searching through her brain for a person that voice might belong to.

"Sorry, girls. That's… Yugo…" Rin sighed. "I'll go stop him."

Hearing the name, Ruri stiffened. 'It really happened, huh. I really have to go talk to her…' She immediately regained her composure. "It's fine. Let's go meet him!"

Rin smiled and turned and called out to Yugo herself.

And through the crowd of numerous people they called and reached out to the other, desperate to find them.

They would do anything just to get ahold and be kept within the deep embrace of the other again.

Alright, enough drama, though the two were thinking that way as of the moment… Even if they never had had an embrace that deep, close, nor intimate.

They decided to just meet up outside the station cause it'll make things much, much easier for the both of them, and they don't have to go through the sea of people and deal with the noise anymore, so that's what they did.

With Serena, though…

Unlike her sisters who followed after Rin, she simply went to the side where fewer people were passing by and walked normally with Misty following behind, making sure that she wouldn't get lost this time. 'So far, I haven't seen him yet,' Serena thought.

She smiled, thinking she had tricked him.

A figure was approaching her from behind (Misty saw and noticed it but ignored him). It was Yuri, as you all might suspect. He gave a small giggle, tiptoeing to her.

'She really doesn't notice,' Misty thought. 'Oh well. They'll both get what they deserve.'

Serena though, contrary to Misty's thoughts, had actually felt said presence but was conflicted and unsure if it's either some dude who decided to follow her or… Yuri being Yuri.

Anyway, she got ready to strike whoever it could be. After all, you'll never really know.

As soon as he got close, Yuri tapped her shoulder and said, "Boo!"

'Aaannnd there we have it.' Misty rolled her eyes… if that's even possible with cats.

'Oh crap. Forgot how she reacts to things like this…' And Yuri was about to dodge, but it was too late.

He saw Serena's extremely fast and non-forgiving fist coming to his face; he also saw Serena's eyes give a death glare that almost made him fear for his life.

Gulping, her fist met his face, leaving a huge, very much visible, red mark on his cheek which is bound to become a bruise later on if not treated. "OOOOOWWW, YOU WRENCH!" he exclaimed, falling to the floor and clutching his cheek. This caught everyone's attention. 'Who knew she could punch this hard!? I've never felt such force from anyone in a long time…'

And he wasn't sure why, but this punch had waaayyy more intensity than her first one from Yuto and Ruri's date.

Misty approached his fallen body and batted his cheek. "Meow." 'In conclusion, you are both stupid.'

"Shit, sorry! I didn't mean that!" Serena apologized. "And what y'all looking at? Move on!" The other people immediately looked away and went on.

She looked back at Yuri who was still on the floor, wailing in pain. "Tsk… You know what happens when you do that!"

"Well maybe next time, know who it is first," he groaned.

"YOU KNOW I HAVE A HARD TIME DOING THAT! And that I have some… trust issues…"

"Oh, right. That, too. Sorry…"

"Sigh… Alright, get up." She reached her hand out to him. "Come on."

Rolling his eyes, Yuri accepted it. He held her hand and she pulled him up.

"Psyche!" She pulled him to the other side and grabbed his other hand to not actually let him fall.

"Finally learned to have fun, eh?" Yuri laughed as he got on his feet again. "I like this part of you—the fun one. You're so miserable all the time."

"Neow." 'Agreed.'

Serena raised an eyebrow at him. Huh. She really does avoid such things, she realized. "Guess."

"Mreaow," Misty meowed rather loudly, annoyed she didn't get much attention. 'Notice me, geez…' "Prrbbrrrt…" She started purring on Yuri's legs.

"Oh, hi, Misty." Yuri smiled at the cat, patting it. He doesn't care about animals most of the time, but Misty was different; she also helped Yuri find Serena. "Almost didn't notice you."

She just glared at him. 'I batted you!'

"Anyway, my lunch is almost over, so let's get this over with," Yuri said, picking his case and lunch up. 'Yuto's definitely gonna give me an earful later…'

"Your face," Serena reminded, pointing to his cheek. "Also, my sisters are outside, prolly with your brother, Yugo."

"Ah, it's fine," he brushed it off even though he knew that he will get in trouble later. "And like, all of them? Can't wait to meet 'em, then!" He walked off.

'Oh boy,' Serena thought as she followed Yuri out with Misty. 'Slow down, master!'

With Ruri…

She had separated from Yuzu and Rin at some point and went to some part of the subway to answer a call.

She wished it was from Yuto, but sadly, it wasn't.

It was from her.

Answering the call, she said, "Mother."

"My dear Nightingale. How have things been?" The voice from the other side was feminine with a little tinge of the voice sounding like someone with a high status.

"My brothers, they… They explained what happened in the past with Ray, exactly."

"Oh." Her, well, their mother, Himika, had been in touch with Ruri for a long time. "That unfortunate event with that," she tsk-ed, "demon."

"Yeah…" Ruri sighed. She was supposed to give Himika as much information as she could, but at some points, she hesitated and didn't always tell the truth.

"Any more… Important or much more interesting reports to tell me? I've been trying to contact you for a few hours."

"None. And I apologize; my sisters and I took a train to go back as we decided to visit dad's… grave. Our brothers also decided to explain things there."

This struck Himika a bit. She never truly despised or hated the man nor them… Tsk, now's not the time for this.

"…Let's talk again at a different time, shall we?"

"Anytime you want."

And with that, Ruri chased after her sisters.


When Rin finally got outside, she saw Yugo near a street food stand.

"RIIINN!" Yugo exclaimed when he noticed her, running to her with arms wide open and two ikayakis—one was halfway eaten—in hand.

"Yugo!" Rin yelled out in response, also overjoyed to see him. "Wait, no, Yugo, stop, Yugo—!" Yugo jumped on her hard enough to hug her but not make her fall. "Rinn…"

Giving up on this poor little idiot, she gladly returned his embrace. "Sigh… missed you too, dumbass…"

"I got you some ikayaki, though I'm not sure if you like this. It's one of my favorite foods, though!"

"Oh, sure." She happily accepted the ikayaki and started eating it.

"I missed you lots," Yugo stated a bit sadly.

"Oh, Yugo, it was literally just overnight. Plus, you called because of your brother at some point and wouldn't stop texting during the night."

"Still…" Yugo knew they just met, but he felt like if she were away, his life would be gone forever.

He had one break-up once and it hurt him a lot. He did not want to experience it again, though he recovered. And even if he and Rin aren't yet official, he's been thinking of it.

He's afraid though that he might not be good enough—a trauma that came from his past break-up.

"That's enough. I'm here now." Rin smiled brightly at him, making Yugo feel happy as well.

"So this is Yugo," Yuzu mentioned from behind, then, both her and Ruri's eyes widened when they saw Yugo's face. 'He really does look like Yuto/Yuya…' Both thought but with their own boys.

Yugo and Rin immediately let the other go.

Ruri smiled at the two. Then frowned. 'Why… Why did it have to be these boys…?"

"I'm Yuzu, Rin's youngest sister," Yuzu started to introduce — interrupting Ruri's inner monologue — then pointed to Ruri. "And this here is Ruri, the eldest."

Yugo nodded to the introductions then noticed something. "What about the third eldest? The one who hung out with Yuri? Where is that guy?"

"Huh, Yuri's here, too?" Ruri asked. "Oh yeah, where are they?"

"Looking for me—" a certain voice called out, but was interrupted by another, saying, "us, Serena. I'm pretty sure you heard what they said." But Serena continued anyway. "Shut up, cabbage-head. Anyway, looking for me—" "US!" —"Meow!" "—you plebeians?"

"Ah. There they are." Rin sighed.

'It really happened…' Ruri tensed. "What's with the big red mark on his face?"

"I punched him," Serena said all too bluntly which didn't really surprise anyone—with the exception of Yugo—anymore.

"Ooh, Yugo, it seems you have reunited with your girl~" Yuri teased. Both Serena and Rin rolled their eyes and Yuzu and Ruri just sweatdropped.

Yugo smiled, knowing exactly what to say. "Seems you have too, Yuri."

"Touche, Yugo," Yuri complimented quite surprisingly. But a compliment from this guy just meant he has something else under his sleeve. "Finally, a fair point ran through your head; it's been a while since that happened," he continued, grinning mischievously.

'He seriously had a counter to that?! Dammit!' Yugo thought.

"It just so happens that you both argue the way I do with Yuri," Serena interjected. "Eh. No wonder we somehow get along well—he knows how to deal with people who have some attitudes that're like mine."

"What," both Rin and Yugo said in chorus, trying to analyze what Serena just said.

Rin then took and told Yugo before he and Yuri's fight continued, "Oh, Yugo, don't let him get in your head; I know he's your brother, but I can tell pretty easily that all he wants is to piss you off. Guess that's why, as Serena herself said, they get along well… and maybe why we do too."

"'Cause my easily pissed off and hot-headed attitude's like hers?"

"…Yeah, something like that. Only, she's more serious than you are goofy. You also have a bit of a caring heart, something Serena lacks."

"Ahh, that 's why she's kinda… heartless," Yuri teased.

Serena glared at him, emerald green eyes burning with fury.

But before anything else could happen, Yuzu interrupted with, "Y'know, us girls are quite tired from the trip. We should get going."

"I'll follow, just hafta talk to Yugo here a bit," Rin told them.

"Same, but with this guy." Serena pointed to Yuri.

"Sure. You both, and I mean both, better go home later." Ruri walked off.

She and Yuzu took a taxi to go back to their apartment.

"Hey Rin, I'll be talking to Yuri for a while," Serena told her sister.

"Yeah, go ahead. Yugo and I'll be right here."

"Thanks, sis!" She dragged Yuri away from the two.

She then pushed Yuri to the other side of the subway's entrance with Misty following them.

"I dunno why I wanna tell you this of all people, but, I feel like I'm getting along with my sisters again, even if it's just a bit," Serena told him giddily.

Yuri smirked at her. "Moved on, finally? I'm proud of you." It was nice that she did. And he's actually proud of her… For some reason. All they did was talk, but who knew it'd help this much.

"Not sure if the first part was to tease me or just a question, but yeah. Maybe I did moved on…"

"Forget the past and move on, but remember the lessons and experiences you got from it."

"By the way, you did not have to come here!" she yelled at Yuri. "And didn't you technically waste your time just to come see me!?"

"Yeah, but man was it worth it," Yuri glanced at her, "especially if it's you."

"If I recall correctly, wasn't your lunch 'almost over'?" Serena asked in hopes of changing the topic.

"Yeah, you're right about that…" he muttered. But then something caught his eye about Serena. He didn't notice it at first, as it was a little thing, but…

"Yuri…?" Serena looked at him a bit worriedly. He just… froze. His magenta eyes were looking at her intently, studying her. But… Why?

"Your hair," he mentioned out of the blue and pouted, pointing at her beanie, "it isn't tied—I like it better tied."

Oh. That's why. "Dude, really? That's why you were staring at me like that!? You—you made me worried! The fuck…"

Yuri just ignored what she said. "As you said, my lunch is almost over. See you again whenever, Rena-chan~" he teased, walking off with Yugo following suit.

'Of all the monikers in the world…' Serena thought, annoyed. She then walked to where Rin was. "C'mon, Mist!"

"Meow…"

"And nice bracelet you got there!"

'He noticed that, too!? That guy…'

With Rin and Yugo, when Serena Yuri walked off…

"Rin~" Yugo squealed quietly, hugging Rin from behind, making her blush. "I missed you…"

"Yeah, me too." She turned and hugged Yugo back, as if it was totally a non-romantic gesture. "But uh, do you realize what you're—we're doing?"

"What do you mean?" Yugo let her go. "Did I do anything I wasn't supposed to? Are hugs inappropriate?"

"Well, hugging me from behind was kinda…"

"Oh! Uhh… Sorry…? Yeah, I just realized." 'If I'm gonna be honest, I don't actually know what she means by that.' He continued eating his ikayaki.

'Gosh he's so dumb…' Rin thought, sighing. 'That's kinda why I liked him in the first place, anyway. So… oblivious.'

Yugo's innocence was her little escape from the problems that the world gives her. If she had a bit of a hard day, she sometimes chats with Yugo and everything, little-by-little, becomes better. She need to rant? He's there. She needs a dumb goofball? He exists. She need someone to comfort her a bit without being too "touchy", taking too much space, or having bad intentions? Yugo'll be there. Without this dumbass, her life would've been miserable like it was before she met him.

Yugo finished his ikayaki with a smack of his lips, snapping Rin out of her thoughts. "Not to be rude, but you gonna eat yours or not?" he asked.

"Oh, um, you can have it." She hoped didn't sound rude when she said that while handing him the ikayaki.

"Thanks!" He gladly took the ikayaki from Rin's hand without sparing a second thought before eating it.

Rin giggled a bit at what he did. He really was a fun person to be with.

But she remembered what she and her siblings discussed the other day. These boys, she and her sisters have to remember, were made of the demon called Zarc, and they had to be careful with them.

This guy seemed too innocent to be compared to that guy, though.

"Shit! I'm sorry, Rin! Lunch break's about to end. Also 'cause Yuri's leaving." Yugo ran to Yuri while eating his ikayaki so fast as if his life depended on it.

"Bye, Rin! See you soon!"

"Bye, Yugo!" She smiled and walked over to Serena.

"Well, I guess it's also time for us to leave as well," Rin said to her. "C'mon."

"Yeah…" Serena and Misty followed after Rin.

The two sets of siblings then walked on to fulfill the tasks needed for the day.

It's not gonna end here yet, though. But we're getting there.

Yuri swiftly turned and yelled, "WaIT! Both of you!"

The girls stopped and turned to him. "What?/The heck you want now?"

"Did Reiji tell you about the ball?"

"Ball? No, I don't… think so…? Serena?" Rin asked.

Serena shook her head. "Of the myriad of shit he told us, no; I don't think he's ever mentioned a ball."

"He actually said his family was invited. Wait, they-they're Reiji's family?" Yugo asked, confused.

"I don't think I ever mentioned it, but, yeah."

"And how did you know?"

"I followed him to his workplace once and bumped into Reiji," Serena explained without missing a beat.

Rin sighed. Of course that happened. "We'll ask Reiji about it later. For now, I am getting tired, so we're heading home. Bye!"

"Yeah, we should get going, too. Cya!"

After some time of walking, Serena suddenly stopped, making Rin and Misty stop as well.

"Hm? Anything wrong?" Rin asked, a little worried for her.

"Nothing, I just wanna tell ya something."

"And what's that?"

"Thank you, Rin—for everything you did for me. Serena walked over and hugged Rin tight. It felt good to finally let it out. "I'm grateful for having you as my sister."

Misty smiled a bit seeing that. It was annoying they stopped, but the scene made it worthwhile. 'Master…'

Rin also hugged her back tightly. "The feeling is mutual, little sis. After all, there's no better friend than a sister, and there are no better sisters than you three."

"And the sister is the first friend and second mother," Serena said.

"Don't be biased now; Ruri's doing her best to provide for us, and us four are also the ones refusing help from our two older brothers. I'm not the eldest and frankly I don't wanna be." They let each other go.

"Yeah, I know that, so don't worry. C'mon, let's goo! Wait, nevermind. Let's just get a taxi."

"Oh, you're right about that. And don't leave your cat this time."

Serena nodded and carried Misty as the three of them waited for a cab.

A faint memory of their past selves passed their minds…

"Side by side," Ruri would start.

"Or miles apart," Rin continued.

"Sisters forever." Serena smiled

"Close at heart," Yuzu concluded.

Their bros always got annoyed by this but would forgive them nonetheless.

The two finally got in a taxi and went back to their apartment.

Today, not all of Serena's problems were solved, but at least one of the most important ones was—to try and restore a bond with her sisters that had been broken.


A/N: I finally updated... after almost 2 months... i feel so relieved...

Imma be occupied the whole month btw exam week is coming I have some projects to do. Knowing myself tho, I'll def make time to write.

One last thing, I made a new story (a multi shot) abt the fusion four as kids just doing sum kid stuff in Academia (its not connected to this. Also itll update randomly/whenever I decide to), so pls check it out if u haven't already and leave a review or two if u wish :D

That's all for now, bye!

-01, out!